Google has big plans for its Tez payment service app in India ahead of its global expansion

Tez is now, Google Pay loaded with new updates and services.

After a year of operations in India, the Google Tez payment app will get a major push into retail as it aims at global expansion. Not only that, Tez will also see itself rebranded to Google Pay which will align it with Google’s global payment service which is already available in over 20 countries. Google plans to update Tez into a payment app that will include almost every service available for India. The service which initially started out as a ban-based payments app, upgraded itself by adding bill and utility payments as well as messaging. Now according to a report in Economic Times, Google plans to take it a notch higher by entering both online and offline retail market.

The service already supports payments to over 2,000 apps and websites including the popular travel booking website, Goibibo and RedBus. The Tech giants now plan to add to that number and look at a more deeper form of integration with partners such as Uber and BookMyShow. Google is also planning on offline payments and are currently in the process of adding in-store payment support for retail brands such as Big Bazaar, eZone and FBB.

In India, Google’s Tez faces heavy competition from the likes of Paytm and Mobikwik who are dedicated payment services launched much before Tez. But Google’s service has already made considerable progress. The Tez app has over 55 million downloads and has reportedley raked in 750 million transaction with an annual run rate of $30 billion (₹2.1 lakh crore) which has ultimately motivated Google to sail its business overseas.

Google also plans to introduce a micro-loan platform inside Tez which could mean trouble for many local startups like ZestMoney which recently closed an big investment with Xiaomi. Google has announced that it has already partnered with a number of India-based banks including HDFC, ICICI, Federal and Kotak Mahindra Bank through which it will be able to offer ‘pre-approved’ loans to customers within seconds in the app.

Google definitely has its job cut out as it plans to expand the newly rebranded Google Pay overseas. The expansion will require a lot of localisation which will be compatible to that particular country as the app is heavily based on India’s current UPI payment system.